Daily News: February 16, 2011

Bosh faces Raptors in Toronto today

Toronto hosts the Heat today in Bosh’s first appearance at the Air Canada Centre since he signed with Miami after seven years with the Raptors. The Raptors say they have no hard feelings toward Bosh, and that his leaving was a business decision.

Yes he said a bunch of incredibly stupid things and might have mis-led general manager Bryan Colangelo into thinking Toronto had a better shot than it actually did of bringing him back (though Colangelo has been around long enough to read the tea leaves and surely knew Bosh wasn’t coming back), but Carter and McGrady’s offences were far worse.

Bosh didn't have leadership skills
For one thing, Bosh does not possess the leadership qualities required by a lead player in an NBA clubhouse.
Bosh is a fine leader by example but does not have it in his DNA to be the vocal No. 1 like a LeBron James, a Dwyane Wade or a Chris Paul has.

Chris Bosh tells Toronto fans: 'bring it on'
The Palm Beach Post reports that Bosh is looking forward to getting it over with, but he does have a straightforward message for fans in Toronto. "I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Bosh said. “So bring it on.”

Raptors unfazed by prodigal son’s return
Chris Bosh’s return to Toronto for his first game since he packed up his wool pea coat and joined the Miami Heat has become one of the most riveting sporting events of the week.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Bosh said. “Pretty much it’s been every arena that we’ve been at — [players] have been extra motivated, fans have been extra motivated to either talk crap or cheer a little louder but I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, so bring it on.”

Personally, I don't really care about the guy - at all. It is like a messy breakup. At the time you are devastated, she was amazing, the one. Time passes and you remember the annoying laugh, the passive aggressive behaviour, the constant pickering over bullsh!t. The reality is the Raps are better having him gone. It would have been nice to get something more in return but for the majority speaking that line, hindsight is the only rationale.

Do not forget the Raps were 5-7without him last season and 6-18 with him down the stretch. If he had been injured more they could have made the playoffs before getting bounced first round - but then again, it is quite possible Ed Davis would not be here. Everything happens for a reason.

Love Evans' comment. Completely reaffirm my opinion of Bosh over the years. After a bad loss or bad effort, Bosh would just not say a fucking word in the locker room. Poor leader, and when somebody questioned the coach about team leadership they always said that he was a "leader by example" and that kind of shit.

The guy went to the lockerroom, gave his PG interview, put on his walkman and got out. Good player, not a leader, definitely not somebody you want to build your franchise around. Not sure why Colangelo never saw that.

I always felt his contributions were empty calories. Lots of numbers but that was all. Didn't win games, didn't make other players better. According to Reggie - and the team's indifference to the Pierce de-pantsing - not that good of a teammate.

At the same time, your hands are kind of tied when you've got an all-star such as Bosh. He's an all-star, no question about it. Multiple times before the age of 26. How can you justify trading someone like that? Definitely, once it got closer to the FA period, it was becoming pretty clear he wasn't coming back, and therefore something probably should have been done. But the Raps were tearing it up before the All-Star break. No reason to think he'd crap out and shut it down afterwards.

Blame management for not getting anyone to compliment him. He desperately needed a wing scorer. The Raps never attempted to get one. Oneal? Marion? Bargnani? Turkoglu? Please. That's not how you build around a PF. I certainly don't blame him for leaving, and I certainly am happy he's not on the team anymore. Both parties are better off in the long term.

Love Evans' comment. Completely reaffirm my opinion of Bosh over the years. After a bad loss or bad effort, Bosh would just not say a fucking word in the locker room. Poor leader, and when somebody questioned the coach about team leadership they always said that he was a "leader by example" and that kind of shit.

The guy went to the lockerroom, gave his PG interview, put on his walkman and got out. Good player, not a leader, definitely not somebody you want to build your franchise around. Not sure why Colangelo never saw that.

Wow, never seen you this fired up Arse! get out of the way everybody! hahaha

Just reaffirms my rebuttal against Karim, he was saying that Bosh was paid as a player, he came in worked his ass off and got paid for what he was worth. I disagreed with that, eventho, there were no labels, it was pretty clear that the dollars he got was that of a franchise player's. but he did not perform to that level. as an assumed team leader, he did nothing but work on his game, and not help the other guys get to his level. the thing with Bosh, there's really nobody in the league you can relate him with, the admiral has duncan, lebron and boobie, kobe and shaq, garnett and davis....you know, somebody bosh could say i worked with this guy and we created a bond. you always hear guys pushing other guys to get better, work on their games together, etc etc. but bosh, i dont think ive ever heard him say, oh yeah, bargs stunk at rebounding and defense, so im helping him out. im pretty sure if bosh took bargs under his wing, bargs couldve been a lot better than what he is now.

evans coming out saying what he said, i think is the right thing. the raps are way too politically correct. sometimes walking on eggshells does more damage than good. im not saying air out your dirty laundry in the media, but when the public is shown the wrong thing, somebody has to come out and correct that.

I think it's hilarious that you people think that leadership has to come from the team's best player. It doesn't. It never has. It helps, sure, but it isn't necessary at all. San Antonio has done fine without it; Pop is their leader, Duncan leads by example. Kobe has been a shitty leader for most of his career, Dwight Howard isn't a leader, etc etc etc. Most NBA superstars are arrogant me-first guys who struggle with actual, genuine leadership. That's why teams value guys like James Posey, Derek Fisher, etc - the vets that can come in and stabilize a locker room, bring the team together.

This is just beating a dead horse for the sake of beating it, another reason for Toronto fans to rile themselves up over something that stopped being relevant months and months ago. No, Chris Bosh wasn't a leader. If the team hadn't been poorly coached and stocked with shitty players, it never would have been an issue.

As we all learned during the Team USA media onslaught at last summer's world championships, Kevin Durant is the nicest young superstar the league has seen in ages. In addition to scoring tons of points and leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to the postseason, he is courteous to reporters, kind to teammates and generally seems more grounded than other players who get voted to be All-Star starters. You wouldn't mind seeing your son be his friend or your daughter bringing him home.

It turns out he is capable of getting very angry, though. During the first quarter of Sunday's loss to the Miami Heat in OKC, Durant and Chris Bosh got in a bit of a verbal argument that earned both technicals. After the game, the NBA's nicest player was asked about it, and he responded with the kind of comments not typically associated with him. From Art Garcia on NBA.com:

"I was talking to my teammate and [Bosh] decided he wanted to put his two cents into it," Durant explained after the 108-103 setback. "I am a quiet guy, laid-back guy, but I'm not going to let nobody talk trash to me. He's on a good team now so he thinks he can talk a little bit. There are a lot of fake tough guys in this league and he's one of them."

Whoa, but Durant wasn't finished.

"I'm no punk," he continued. "I wasn't even talking to him first off. He decided to butt in and I'm not going to just let that slide. Especially in our house. Like I said, he's not one of those guys I look at and say he has a rep for talking back to guys or getting into it. He's a nice guy. I'm not going to let that type of person say something to me like that."

I think it's hilarious that you people think that leadership has to come from the team's best player. It doesn't. It never has. It helps, sure, but it isn't necessary at all. San Antonio has done fine without it; Pop is their leader, Duncan leads by example. Kobe has been a shitty leader for most of his career, Dwight Howard isn't a leader, etc etc etc. Most NBA superstars are arrogant me-first guys who struggle with actual, genuine leadership. That's why teams value guys like James Posey, Derek Fisher, etc - the vets that can come in and stabilize a locker room, bring the team together.

Good point. I've said all along that when we were making our run at the Eastern Conference Semi's, you think Vince was our 'Leader'? On the court, perhaps. But I remember Oakley calling him out, and what happened the very next night? Vince goes for 50.
Teams need people who are going to put in the hard work and not have an ego about it. Not expect to get on Sportscenter.
With vets like Oak, Curry and Christie, the Raptors were able to have young, explosive talent, while giving them guidance and mentors to look up too. We need Oakley.

I think it's hilarious that you people think that leadership has to come from the team's best player. It doesn't. It never has. It helps, sure, but it isn't necessary at all. San Antonio has done fine without it; Pop is their leader, Duncan leads by example. Kobe has been a shitty leader for most of his career, Dwight Howard isn't a leader, etc etc etc. Most NBA superstars are arrogant me-first guys who struggle with actual, genuine leadership. That's why teams value guys like James Posey, Derek Fisher, etc - the vets that can come in and stabilize a locker room, bring the team together.

This is just beating a dead horse for the sake of beating it, another reason for Toronto fans to rile themselves up over something that stopped being relevant months and months ago. No, Chris Bosh wasn't a leader. If the team hadn't been poorly coached and stocked with shitty players, it never would have been an issue.

So get over it.

I think people are confusing "leadership" for accountability. As THE man on the team, Bosh never took any responsibility. Many many times during a post-game interview he would deflect the blame with this "it's not my fault we're losing" attitude. Kobe and Dwight may not be the perfect leaders, but when a team struggles they're the first to take responsibility for it.

Nine New Faces - you have a valid point but Kobe and Duncan are absolutely the leaders on their teams. People might not like how Kobe does it but he is the vocal leader and leads by example (his version of it). Duncan is one of the best leaders to ever play the game...vocal, consistantly calls out players with an understanding it's best for the team and he also keeps the team together off the court, spreads the rock but then picks up his team when he needs to.

As for Bosh...he stopped playing D after he signed his extension and then played the fans and team into thinking there was a legit chance of him coming back. He knew all along he and LeBron needed to make it to unrestricted free agency to pull off the coupe...they screwed their teams intentionally. At the end of the day they did what was best for them but did it in a very douchey way.

THe NBA will implement a "franchise tag" in the new collective bargaining...it will be called the LeBosh rule. Bank on it.

I think people are confusing "leadership" for accountability. As THE man on the team, Bosh never took any responsibility. Many many times during a post-game interview he would deflect the blame with this "it's not my fault we're losing" attitude. Kobe and Dwight may not be the perfect leaders, but when a team struggles they're the first to take responsibility for it.

I think you've forgotten what Kobe was like during the Smush Parker days. Duncan came into the league a quiet kid and played that way for most of his career. He was demanding, but in a quiet, pull you aside way. Accountability on the Spurs came because Pop was willing to call out Duncan as much as he was any other player on the team. Duncan's real leadership quality, his professionalism, doesn't work without a coach like Pop.

Look, it's all relative. You'd probably have called KG a leader in his Minnesota days, except he was just as anti-clutch as Bosh and had a playoff record that scaled with the talent he had around him. Pierce and Allen definitely weren't 'leaders' except in the sense that they took the most shots on the clubs, until they got to the Celtics and suddenly these guys are the media's definition of leaders. But what really brought those guys together? Doc Rivers, the veteran voice who could manage their egos and get them all on the same page.

In my opinion, team chemistry and talent level matter a whole hell of a lot more than 'leadership quality' of your star player.

Love Evans' comment. Completely reaffirm my opinion of Bosh over the years. After a bad loss or bad effort, Bosh would just not say a fucking word in the locker room. Poor leader, and when somebody questioned the coach about team leadership they always said that he was a "leader by example" and that kind of shit.

The guy went to the lockerroom, gave his PG interview, put on his walkman and got out. Good player, not a leader, definitely not somebody you want to build your franchise around. Not sure why Colangelo never saw that.

Damn straight. And I'll add that after 7 years we barely even knew what Bosh was thinking about the team until last year when his buddy, Jarrett "I never met a microphone I didn't like" Jack was acting like his spokesman and saying the team insider stuff we all suspected he was saying in private. Things like: Andrea is killing the team on defense, but the coaches are afraid to call him out because he's a sensitive wimp.